Summary of Disc 2 (courtesy of Essex Sound and Video Archive)
1] Had smart taffeta dress whilst boarding at school in Bishop’s Stortford. People dressed smartly then, hats for church. Not allowed to wear makeup. Hid lipstick in pocket when going to the cinema, aged 15. Went a couple of times a week. Boarded from age 16. Two cinemas in Saffron Walden then. Told off by father for seeing ‘Fanny By Gaslight’. Left school aged 17. Looked after two boys at a guest house in Frinton then worked as a nursery nurse in Clacton and then Harlow; now Beckingham Palace. Then went to Great Ormond Street.
[2] Always wanted to work with children. Mother was a nanny. Attended a conference in London, saw Great Ormond Street Hospital, then applied to work there. Very hard work, looking after sick children on wards. Best way to learn.
[3] Talks about the wards and nursing staff. A cross chart system; had to do a procedure several times with supervision, then without. Started by giving injections, bathing a baby, giving bedpans. By third year, intravenous injections, assisting in theatres. Spent six months on the maternity ward and premature baby unit at Hammersmith Hospital. Did two sets of exams in third year; hospital finals in own hospital and general nursing RSCN at another hospital.
[4] Used surnames. Talks about matron, Miss Kirby; still in touch. 28 nurses started training, 24 finished and 21 were back for the 50 years reunion. Lasting friendships. Had fun. Learned structure and order. Talks about times of duties.
[5] Could get complimentary theatre tickets if finished at 5.30pm; saw nearly every show in London, including The Mousetrap in 1954. Lived in the nurses home for the first and second years. Could share a house after third year. Money was bad. Earned £5.00 a month when working at the Harlow nursery. Saved £3.00. Cycled around Harlow New Town on afternoons off. Kept in contact with parents by letter, or they would send money for her train fare home. Parents had telephone installed during second year at Great Ormond Street; had previously had to phone the post office to pass a message on. Recalls watching the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on TV in 1953.
[6] The nurses lounge at Great Ormond Street had one of the first colour televisions, for the children to watch the coronation. The furthest she travelled was to visit a cousin in Fife, by coach from Victoria Station. Once went with her father by the ‘Queen of Scots’ train, travelled home on ‘The Flying Scotsman’. A member of Radwinter Guides, remembers going to guide camp in Dorset. Camped in Norfolk and in the Lake District from boarding school guides and cadets. Didn’t go abroad until she was in her 40s. Most people left school and got jobs in Saffron Walden. Younger cousins and friend from Radwinter, Molly Walker, went to teacher training college. Courtships were going to the cinema, dances or socials together. Caused problems in the family by getting married on 21 December, near Christmas; chose as Hempstead didn’t have a football match, Beautiful weather. Stayed for a weekend with a friend in Kent and saw ‘My Fair Lady’ at Drury Lane. Had later honeymoon in July in Jersey.
[7] Had a caterer from Haverhill, Nigel Willis, for the wedding. Had salad. Cake made by Mr Earl, a baker in Haverhill. Remembers the rebuilding of the church tower and the barn tea at Church Farm. Ladies provided refreshments for occasions in the village. Remembers Christmas day 1957 being at grandfather Jack’s at Hillside and seeing the thatched cottage fire. Talks about the cottages; one up, one down and a scullery, all occupied by widows. Mrs Purkiss lived in the one that caught fire.
[8] Nobody had to be rescued. Rumours of how the fire started. Felt safer and more secure in those days; recalls people leaving money on table when she delivered bread. Had a local policeman who lived at Sampford and came round on his bicycle. Mentions that a few people lived in bigger houses. Some employers considered themselves better than employees. Respect for the parson, schoolteacher, doctor, and policeman. Shared policeman and vicar with Sampford. School teacher lived in Trevor House, the school house. Parson lived in the vicarage.
[9] Comments that people only went to their local church. Either church or chapel. Recalls the Salvation Army hall being derelict, then burning down. As father came from Sampford, frequently went to Baptist chapel at Sampford, Methodist chapel and Plymouth Brethren Gospel Hall. Politics only came to the fore at elections. Conservative candidate R A Butler well respected. Labour Stanley Wilson from Saffron Walden. Recalls his supporter, John Barker, going to the bake house to spout politics to her father. Comments that Conservatives were the main party, then Labour, as Stanley Wilson was local; Liberal man had small following.
[10] Comments that a lot of village people had strange habits when she was a child; now not so many characters. Recalls two men who stuttered and an old lady who pretended to be disabled and wore black all the time; people thought she was a witch. MD liked her cat and looked after it when she was no longer able to. Talks about Doff and Sam Turner.
[11] Mentions poetry book by Doff Turner, ‘A Bunch of Thoughts’, and that Doff and Sam went to grammar school in Saffron Walden. Reads out Doff’s poem, written for MD’s wedding day. Comments that Doff also played the harp, came to chapel, and could be rude; didn’t get on with the housekeeper Winnie Turner. Talks about Ronald Haylock, a magistrate, certifying Doff. Parson was also considered strange.
[12] Remembers that the parson wouldn’t go into the chapel. Had garden fetes in his garden, had a tombola. Village life was more self-contained then; everyone knew everyone. Children played together. Knew a lot of people in Sampford, while John knew more in Steeple Bumpstead. Villagers were wary of the boys from Hempstead Hall; worked on the farm and had their own school. Father delivered bread there. Occasionally a group went into the post office and bought sweets from the bake house. Called ‘borstal boys’. Most from London. A church army remand home. John’s father worked there. Captain in charge Donald Warner’s father; lived at Rosedale. Recalls Captain Sanderson. Comments that more families stayed in the village then, and that most worked on farms.